Groupie for a weekend

Brittney and I have talked a lot about using our flight benefits better before we have any rugrats running around. So we threw around the idea of flying to an away show from our fav rock band, Royal Bliss. They just happen to be playing a big show called Rockfest in Portland during the weekend of Sept 11th, I know scary to fly right. Nah, I wasn't trippin. We didn't have a U of Utah game that weekend, so it was a perfect opportunity. I threw around the idea to Neal, Chris, and Taylor, from Royal Bliss. Neal said he would work on tickets and both Taylor and Chris mentioned about coming up to Seattle to watch them there the next day. He said he'd talk to the boys about just having us jump in the motorhome with them and roadtrippin up there. So of course we said "hell yeah", groupie-life here we come.
We flew up to Portland friday morning and picked up Natalie, who works with Brittney at Skywest. She was doing some instuctor work up there and it worked out perfect. We grabbed a rental car, and off we went. Let me just say that Portland is absolutely beautiful when the sun is out. There were trees everywhere, and the city is located near all of this water, like rivers and streams everywhere, intersecting throughout the area. It would be awesome to live there if it didn't get so dang rainy all of the time.
We had to drive past downtown Portland and drive another 30-40 min to the middle of nowhere to reach a big cornfield or farmers land where the concert was gonna take place. It was just a big open area with some small mountains or more like hills covered in trees as a back drop. It was pretty effin hot during the day, and I wore pants. Needless to say I got a little swass from walkin around. Royal Bliss was the 2nd band to play there. And like always they tore it up. It was fairly early in the day, there were like 10 bands playing, so not everyone was there to see them, but they always sounds so great live, and they no how to get any crowd up for their music no matter how big or small. Us 3 of course were singing as loud as we could, cause the music rocks. On "Here they come", a small mosh pit started and I watched this kid, no more than 15-16 jump in and get his butt handed to him. He got elbowed right in the head and it dropped him. He later wanted to get some revenge or was just plain retarded so he jumped back in, and this time was elbowed in the face, and lost a tooth. Needless to say, this type of people were in the crowd that day. I did not fit in at all.

So I texted Chris and he was backstage after they played. We met up with them and chatted for a while. Their was a little autograph booth they had to sit so people could meet them. They are famous you know. So anyway, they got us some backstage passes so we could chill in the back with them. We did that for a while. Got to eat some band food, got to listen to band tour stories which I cannot repeat. It was a blast. We mostly listened to the music from the backstage, which was alright, cause we didn't have to deal with the crazy people at the concert.
Towards the end of the night, after REHAB, and Atreyu, played it was time for Kid Rock to finish the night. Chris have developed a little crush on Natalie, even though she is now married. We tried once upon a time to get them to meet for a possible date but it never happened. She got married a few months ago. Even still he enjoyed her company which was cool. He hung out with us 3 for most of the night. One interesting thing I got to see was just before leaving backstage, I went over for a chat with Neal. He was watching the bus that Kid Rock was in and waiting to see how he made his entrance. He told me he wanted to see how he does it, how he gets up for his show. And out came Kid Rock in a typical all white jumpsuit looking get up and behind him was Rev Run from Run DMC. It was pretty cool to be 25 feet from them walking on to the stage. So we all went out to the front and watched the beginning of the show, which was pretty damn cool. Apparently Kid Rock does not do any type of lip syncing or dubbing in any of his shows and he made sure to tell us that. The RB boys had said they have played with some bigger bands who have done that.
Kids show was good. He is a funny dude. He can't dance for squat. He jumps around and throws his mic from one hand to the next. I can do a pretty good imitation if you ever wanna see it. I had a couple good laughs about that later. Just before the show ended we skipped out cause we had to meet Brittney's boss, whose parents live just outside of Portland and we were staying at their house for the night.
We woke up and went and got some breakfast. We had to drop off the car and I thought we were gonna be late to meeting up with RB to head off to Seattle. Luckily for us they were at a hotel no more than a couple hundred feet from where we had to drop off our car. We got there and only one of the guys was awake, and that was Chris. He told us what went down after the show, and where they went, and with who, and once again, I'm not gonna repeat the story. Lets just say I don't know how they do this each and every night on the road. But good for them, for living it up and being crazy rock stars while they can. It needs to be said that Neal is the only married one, and he while he can get after it and put down the booze, that's as crazy as he gets. You can tell how much love and respect he has for his wife, which is awesome and admirable. He is the lead singer and gets a lot of attention, but is cordial and nice to everyone, but leaves it at that.
Lucky for us the guys had rooms that previous night cause they all came walking out to the motorhome with smiles on their faces. And that was only cause they got to shower that morning. Like I said, lucky for us. So they were all pretty pooped, but were hungry as well. We weren't cause we'd eatin breakfast, but they were. Apparently there is a local SLC guy who loves their music and gives them gift cards to Chili's and so they wanted to save some cash and eat there. What a mess that turned into. The only type of Navigation system they have is an Atlas and a GPS cell phone. We couldn't find the first Chili's, the second Chili's was closed, and the third and final one was in a mall, and we couldn't see the mall, so we kept driving up and down this road trying to see it. Keep in mind none of these Chili's were by each other, and we were driving around in a motorhome with a trailer behind it. They were scattered throughout the Portland area. This had to have taken 3 hours to find. So everyone ate like horses, Neal didn't. He was still hungover from 2 nights ago, when they blew out a tire and stayed and partied in some po-dunk little town in Portland and played beer pong all night. He was not doing so good, so he went back and crashed. When we all got back there, we crashed as well. I took a small nap, and then went and sat up with Taylor who was driving. Someone had to be his wingman and I was willing. I hadn't been had the crazy nights the rest of the guys had. So off we went.
We got stuck in traffic, we were already gonna be cutting it close. We got to Seattle, but got lost there as well in those steep and crazy hilled streets. I don't know how they do it. We got the gig, The High Dive is what it was called. Apparently Pearl Jam, Nirvana, & Alice in Chains had all played there before. It was small, but cool. The music was very loud. I wanted to go outside to cool down before Bliss came on, and the door guy started giving me shit about coming in through the back door and told me that Brittney and I had to pay. I told him I was with the band and he looked at me like, "yeah right". I grabbed Taylor and he walked over and told the guy we were roadies. The guy looked at Brittney and said, "yeah, u-huh, what could she carry?". Taylor laughed and said, "she brought in my guitar". And we walked outside. Like I said before, my jock, preppy butt didn't quite fit in with the normal crowd and neither did Britt. But we are friends with the Royal Bliss guys and love their music, so it didn't matter to them and doesn't matter to us.
Like always, they tore it up. I swear this sounds stupid, but it never gets old watching them play. Every time is enjoyable and it was cool to see a crowd not in SLC enjoying their music. Everyone in there was paying attention and singing along with the choruses. Their choruses are easy to figure out and follow, which makes it fun. Some other friends of RB, Dano and Melissa had flown up to Seattle to watch the guys play. We were initially planning on just staying up all night and taking the 6 am flight home, but Dano mentioned us just crashing on a hide-a-bed in their room. That was awesome for him to offer that to us. We could stay a little longer in Seattle and maybe see a little bit of the city the next day.
We woke up the next day and Chris calls me and say, "hey bro, I got tickets to the 49ers/Seahawks game, you in?". Well I had to clear it with the boss, and was scared to ask. We were right by Lake Union and their was lots to see in Seattle, so I had Chris talk to Britt and she said yes. So Chris came over to our hotel and him and I scooted off to the game. We had some good tickets near the end zone where all of the action was. He is a huge niners fan and was wearing a Frank Gore jersey. All sorts for of people were giving him crap for it. I thought we were gonna have to beat this kid down in one of the bathrooms cause he kept grabbing us, and heckling us. So I've seen 5 pro football games in various stadiums, played college football in various stadiums. This was by far, times 2, the loudest place I've ever witnessed a game being played. It said 12th man all over the stadium and that was the truth. It was retardedly loud. The game went into overtime, and the 49ers kicked a game winning field goal to win it. Nobody gave Chris any shit after that. It was kind of funny.
So we walked downtown up to where Brittney was. She was a little upset it took so long cause Dano and Melissa flew out earlier and she was by herself in that big city for longer than she wanted. She let me know too. I felt horrible. I felt bad for going in the first place, and like a good wife she said I could go cause she doesn't want to be the wife who never lets her husband do things. So I did my best and used my irresistible charm to cheer her up. The girl who got Chris the tickets to the game met us at the Hotel where we had stayed and took us to her favorite restaurant. It was a sushi house and it was the best sushi I've ever eaten. It was the bomb. Well all of the flights for the rest of that day and night were full. We were gonna have to take the early flight the next morning. We didn't have a hotel or a place to stay. The rest of the RB boys had made their trip back home in the motorhome, Chris was gonna hang in Seattle with this girl for a few days.
So this is cool and was kind of fun. This girl was a realtor who sat in a completely remodeled old High School that had been converted into townhomes and condo's and were now for sale. She was a model agent. They had like 4 models still open. She showed us a few of the condo's and told us we could stay in one of them for the night as long as we left bright and early in the morning and made everything look like nobody had been there. These were fully furnished. We felt like bandits or house burglers. It was awesome. We woke up the next morning, jumped in a cab and headed to the airport. All of the flights filled up. We were stuck in the airport. I got creative and told Brittney we could fly to Missoula, Montana and then fly home. That worked. We got home, and what an experience and vacation. I will do a slideshow and post the pics up soon.

I'm done with Creatine for now

So...a little 411 on Creatine and how I first tried it, and why I love it/hate it. Right after I graduated High School in 97, I left for Ricks Junior College to play football. My mom bought me some Creatine from GNC and I gave it my best shot. I had heard good stuff about it, but didn't really know what it was. I didn't even drink protein drinks back then.

So when I showed up to Ricks, part of the initial welcome to the football team was to run, lift, and jump, like standard combines. Well i was 175-180 pds tops, since I had just completed my senior season of soccer and summer club soccer. So I was pretty much a wimp. They had us bench press 225pds as many times as we could. The bar pretty much broke my chest. I could barely even hold it, let alone press it. So they had me bench press 185, and I did it 4 times.

So I'll try to cut to it. I bought grape juice to take with my creatine. Ate tons of tuna, eggs, and chicken. I came home after that first semester weighing 205 and pressing 225 4 times. Creatine worked wonders for me. But....

I wasn't playing soccer. I was just playing football, and not running like soccer makes you. Well I've always been a believer in Creatine and would swear by it to anyone looking to get stronger and gaining muscle.

Well at the University of Utah, while studying Exercise and Sport Science, I actually had a chance to learn how Creatine fundamentally works. Why it worked for me. I took it at various times while playing football at the U, and I got to a max weight of 221 there.

Well to break it down, Creatine adds a phosphate molecule to ADP to make more ATP. When you exert energy, the most basic form of energy in the body is ATP. When you use it, you can't fully refill it after rest. Its kind of like going a few steps down a ladder, and never quite being able to go back to the top like you could at the beginning. An example of this. When I bench press as much weight as I can 8 times, the very next set even after a rest I might only press 6 or 7 times. Then the next one maybe 4 or 5. Your body doesn't have the energy to push it. Well creatine enables you to stay near the top of your ability, like Set 1-8x, Set 2-8x, Set 3-6-7x. This makes it so you gain more strength, and tear your muscles even more by pressing more weight, which gives you that much more room to take protein to grow those muscles.

Well there are small side effects from creatine. One which is making me change my decision to stop it for now. Creatine pulls water from your body to bring to the muscle cells, like filling a water balloon. This creates a positive environment for protein synthesis, which is another way of saying growing muscle. Well with that water being pulled from my body, it is making my legs cramp playing soccer.

I hadn't taken it for a few years, cause I never wanted my weight to go over 205pds for more speed in soccer. Well I broke my foot in February and couldn't play any more soccer cause of that. Well I continued to play football as a placekicker and my body wasn't in kicking shape from not playing soccer. Well my leg just started to fade and fatigue during the games and as the season went on. I knew that Creatine would help me get back some of that energy and strength loss at the end of the games. It did and it worked like I planned. I had actually forgot about how it would effect my weight training. That wasn't my intention for taking it, but it made my strength fly out the roof and my weight increase to wear it was at the U. I got back to 220, and as of today I'm 118.

Well I love soccer and love being in shape and quick, but my Tibialis muscle on the front of my shin just cramps like crazy when I'm on Creatine. So as of today, I'm done with it. I bet my weight heads back down to 205-210 like normal, but I'm gonna work my tail off to keep my strength cause it feels nice to improve with my strength. I will let everyone know who reads this blog know how it goes.

'If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.'

This was a prayer given to the Kansas Senate and voices a lot of concern and truth to the way we behave as a people. Read and enjoy.

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of speech and expression.

We have ridiculed the time honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today;cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!'

The Dark Knight

I've been biting my tongue on this for too long. If it hadn't had been for Heath Ledger dying, The Dark Knight would have just been a good Batman. I still think Batman Begins had a better story line, plot, climax, and overall theme than this newer one. There were too many flaws in this movie, for it to be classified with the best movies of all time, Braveheart, Godfather, Titanic, Lord of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption.


Here is a spoof that shows how ridiculous some parts of this movie were.


Who would ever go after Maggie Gyllenhaul?
Batman talks like an idiot.

There have been lots of actors who played great crazy people. Just because he died doesn't make it the best of all time.

Brad Pitt-12 Monkeys, Fight Club, Seven, Snatch;

Jack Nicholson-The Shining;

Anthony Hopkins-Silence of the Lambs;

Edward Norton-American History X, Fight Club, Primal Fear).

Imagine if Jack Nicholson would have been given the same script as Ledger. Anyone can randomly lick their lips.


Watch and enjoy. Please excuse the few cuss words. The rest is quite funny if you've seen the movie. I feel better now. Thanks.

Vacations I've done in the past year.

Boy where does it begin. In the past 12 months, I have been to Lake Tahoe, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Lake Mead, and St. John of the Virgin Islands. Missed out on Lake Powell cause of scheduling conflicts. I've been told that I don't have enough dang pics on here. Sorry. I know how boring it must be to just read, I mean seriously. Duh, only adults read, us children, we want pictures. What does it look like daddy? Haha, I know I've been lazy so here is some of em. Boy I can't say enough how lucky I've been to be some of these places.

Lake Tahoe, August, 2007
with the Royal Bliss boys

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. December, 2007

Cancun, Mexico. March, 2008

St. John, Virgin Islands. April, 2008

Championship Game and All Star Game

So my team, the Utah Wolverines, lost in the Championship game against the Cache Valley Bearz of Logan. We lost in Triple Overtime. It was one hell of a game. We had a chance at the very end of regulation to kick a 57-60 yd field goal, something like that. But since we didn't have a special teams coach to get us together right before the kick, we had too many guys on the field, the referees let the clock run down to 0:00. And in overtime, we went back and forth, both teams. They had a few chances to win it with field goals, but their kicker who is normally pretty good, missed both opportunities. I had my opportunity in the 2nd overtime, but it got blocked. My line let a guy right up the middle. How sad is that. It has happened a few times this year. I really wanted both field goal opportunities. I know the one that got blocked would have been through. I felt good all game and hadn't missed anything, plus it felt good, which is normally a good sign. Anyway, so we lost in the 3rd when the Bearz scrored a touchdown and we couldn't. It was a great game, definitely one to remember.

So I was voted to the All Star Game which I thought was pretty cool. The league has 23 teams, from Utah, Idaho, and Montana, and each team only gets one kicker. I didn't really have the ideal season, but it was definitely a good season. My line let too many people through to get it blocked. I kick plenty high enough and fast enough to never get anything blocked, but I can only do my job, nobody elses.

The All Star Game had a Pregame Competition which included The Fastest Man, The Longest Throw, and The Strongest Man. I competed in the Longest Throw (kind of), and the Strongest Man. I wanted to prove to other players that not all kickers and weak, puny, and unathletic. So I only threw once on the longest throw. That was the first comp and I was geared up to bench press to prove that I wasn't a wimp. I threw somewhere between 55-60, but I was afraid to give it my all, cause I didn't want my bad shoulder to flare up hence not doing well in the Strongman. So I decided not to continue in it. In the Strongman, I had kind of trained for. I definitely knew I wasn't gonna win, but I wanted to get down there in front of everyone, and see what I was made of. The competition is bench pressing 225 pds as many times as you can. I had a goal of 16x. I did it 15x. The actual bench was really high so I couldn't plant my feet like I was used to. Needless to say, the winner, a guy on my team, did it 34x which is outrageous for his size. But I did what I had intended to do. I took 5th which shouldn't be to bad for a kicker.

But the All-Star game was in Idaho, near Pocatello. I had a good game. We won 41-12, easily. I had a kick blocked and missed another against the wind, but made everything else. Which I would say is good considering it was an All-Star Game with a new holder, snapper, and played in thick, thick grass. Look at the ball, its half buried, and the holder's hand is right in front of the ball. Overall the game went well. I kicked a couple touchbacks, just to show I could, and then just put the ball up on kickoff to give the guys some action.


Coming Soon.......A few of my teammates from the Wolverines approached me about the idea of starting my own team. Well, its gonna happed and we're going full steam ahead. All of the guys involved are business savvy fella's who are go-getters. We have been meeting weekly and have set some pretty lofty goals. The season is in the Spring and there are some serious football fans out there. We hope to draw anywhere from 3-5k people in the stands. And as far as our team is concerned, we have a few ex collegiate players we have played with that are on board. We wanna go big with this. Large Corporate Sponsorships, Comcast available TV produced games, Travel to other leagues and play their Champions (California, Washington, Vegas, etc). The wheels are in motion and we're working hard. Stay tuned....

Wow!

All I can say, is 'what a week'. This has been an unreal week for me. For one thing, I have been absolutely slammed with work. Which sounds weird. Aren't we in a slow market, a possible recession, where the housing market is the root of it all. I just might have my biggest month I've had in 7 years of Real Estate. Thank the Heavens above. Well, I have a closing tomorrow that I had 10 offers on the first 2 days I had it for sale. Its selling for 15k over the asking price. I wrote up an offer for my brother to build a home and submitted it on Monday. I got an offer on a listing I've had for 8 months, it looks good, and they have to buy another by the first week of August. And I have been working with 3 other people who have needed to get into a home before July is over, and 2 of them I'm gonna get done. We already have them Under contract. Yippee! The other is another situation where there is a divorce and she needs to find a condo.. I hope we find her something and she can move on and be happy. She is a total sweetheart and deserves it. But I'm not putting any pressure on her, I'm letting her go at her own pace.

A funny story though. I won't mention her name cause she would be very embarrassed by this, but I have to at least explain. I have never had this happen before at a showing. Well I was showing her this condo in Midvale, and we both agreed that it was a great location, perfect for finding a roommate, and had a lot of upgrades and a good layout. It felt like it could be home, possibly. Well this condo has a loft above the kitchen with some steep stairs leading down to the living room. Well we sat up in the loft talking quietly about the possibilities of this place (the homeowners were down below in the living room). And as we were walking down the stairs, her heels got caught up on one of the stairs, and I saw her as slow-motion as it gets, just one by one, joint by joint, fall forward right to the bottom. And right before she was to hit, she turned her head and rotated her body just barely to avoid hitting a piece of furniture, and smacking her face straight on. I was shocked and completely stunned. I didn't know what to do other than rub her back and talk quietly to her asking her if she was alright. And this is the crazy part. She got up looked at the sellers, and said, "wow, eh em, so what does the HOA include?" HAHAHAhehehe! I thought I was at the Olympics and those gymnasts who do the vault and completely land on the back or face or just eat it, but still have to bow to the judges and the crowd. It was awesome. We went in the other room and she composed herself even more and we had a little chuckle about it. I told her I gave her dismount and landing an 8.5, and she just laughed. What an awesome story I have to tell now. What a trooper. She was a college cheerleader and I guess knew how to twist her body to save other parts of her body. And she still wanted the condo a few days later, but it is Under Contract and not available any more.

And I had some friend drama or issues I dealt with earlier this week as well. But thats for another post. I really have to evaluate everything around me, cause even though I feel I've always been pretty realistic about things, I have some adjustments I am gonna make which might change some things. Too many people want the truth or others to be honest and open, but really and truly nobody wants to hear something negative about themselves. So its a tug of war with everyone, what should I say, what shouldn't I say. Well once again, for the umpfth time I speak up and all hell breaks out. Well it is what it is. I speak it, and have to deal with it. I'm sorry to everyone who doesn't like me for saying what others don't or won't. I am who I am. But if I'm viewed as the bad guy in all of this, I will slowly make my way out of it. I shouldn't have to blow smoke to make someone feel I'm their true friend.. Ask and you shall receive.

What's on my mind

So I have lots of updating to do and I know it. I have been to Cancun, what's new with football, my life, etc. But this morning I got a deeply disturbing message from someone whom I have known for a long time and do care about. He is the older brother of some of my oldest friends, but I still care for him a friend and have earnestly tried to make that clear. I have not spoken to him in a while in person. He had a cute little baby a few months ago and has since taken the time to get settled in and spend the necessary time with his child. I respect that and probably will do the same.

The message that I received said some pretty disturbing things to me which are really bothering me and I would like to get them off my chest. I am really confused and dumbfounded what brought this about and so I am really just going to use this blog as a vent system to get this out of my mind.

"Why would anyone want to be your friend- when ultimately everyone knows what you do to your so called friends.." This is part of the message that was given to me. I was called a few names and such, but there really isn't any need to repeat them. The part that really bothers me, is where this all came from, how it stemmed, and what do I need to do to remedy it. I have been told that there have been some various fighting and name calling between a few of these brothers, my friends. I can't imagine that my name would have been brought up but I really am not sure. I have put in more time to remain friends with these guys than it has been reciprocated. I have looked at these guys as my surrogate brothers for the longest time and so this hurts to know that one of them is having these feelings towards me.

So I'm just going to end my blog entry like this. I have always, and I'm gonna say it again...always loved my friends. I have been wronged, talked about, betrayed, lied to, at some point by some of my friends. But I know I have a loving and forgiving heart and am truly saddened by this message. I really would do anything for this guy if he asked. I would invest whatever is necessary to make amends. And that goes to whomever else is reading this. I tell Brittney all of the time, "I don't always know if I have done something wrong, but if you tell me what I've done or said, I will do whatever it takes to make it right, or to fix the problem".

I'm a grown man. An imperfect man....I make mistakes...I make them often...But I try to be a humble man who can still grow and get better. Please let me know if I have offended you or someone you love.....I also ask that you give me the benefit of the doubt to make it up to you. I am tired of all the hate and animosity in this world. I want to be someone who can provide a little bit of light to this world.

What's New

So in the past 2 weeks I have broken my foot, had Valentine's Day, and possibly sold my car. 2 good, 1 bad. So a week and a half ago, I was kicked on the side of the foot playing open play soccer, just pickup, while a guy was trying to shoot. I immediately felt the top half of my foot twist inward and I knew I had done something to myself. Kind of frustrating given that it was only pickup soccer, and not a serious game. But oh well, I'll live to play again. It is actually just a chipped bone, and not a fracture, FYI. But I'm wearing a silly foot boot thingy that I can't quite figure out how the heck its supposed to help me but either way I'm wearing that during the day, and icing it at night. I should be good in a couple of weeks.

Well even with a broken foot, I played a football game on Saturday, and I have to say it was the funnest game I have ever been a part of. We lost the game 28-27 to the Salt Lake Sting in the UIFL indoor football league at the Olympic Speed Skating Oval. So I was definitely not intending on playing in this game all week last week. I called the quarterback Jeff Wissler to tell him of my injury and that I would not be playing since my foot was so swolen and I didn't want to risk hurting it even more. I had just left him a message as he didn't answer my call. Well, he didn't call me back until 2 hours before the game to see if I was gonna play. I told him "No, my foot is still swollen". He seemed disappointed but understood, since I was injured. So Brittney and I were going to go get some dinner, and as I was getting ready, I took a couple of practice swings in my bedroom and my foot actually felt OK. I'm not sure if having a tighter shoe on helped or what, so I put on my indoor soccer shoes to see how it would feel, and it felt good. I could still tell I was hurt but not enough to keep me from kicking a few extra points-20 yrd field goal. It was 5:45 and the game was at 6:30. So I walked in the living room and told Britt, that I felt really bad missing this game. It was the quarterfinals and they were counting on me, and I didn't want to let them down. So I threw my stuff together as quick as I could & we flew to the game. We didn't get there until 15 min til kickoff. As I walked in the door, I saw Jeff, and he took a big sigh and told me how relieved he was that I was there and how much stress I had taken off of him. That obviously made me feel good, and I didn't want to let them down. They were already so thrilled that I could possibly help them out.

I didn't even really get to warm up. I put the ball on the kickoff tee and kicked 2 balls before the horn blew for the teams to get ready for kickoff. I stretched on the sidelines, and we scored on our first possession. I went out to kick nice and calm, really not worrying about anything. I felt good, my foot and my previously injured groin felt good. The kick was good, and I was excited. Now in this league, if your kickoff makes it through the uprights they give you an extra point. Keep in mind that the field is only 50 yds long plus 8 yd end zones, and the field goals are only 10 ft apart. So this isn't all that easy to make. In total I kicked 2 extra points, 1 field goal, and 3 out of 5 kickoff through. Not bad for a guy with a broken foot and no warmup. But I need to tell you about the end of the game. We were down by 8 points with a minute left. We were stopped for short gains on our first 2 possessions, then on the 3rd our quarterback scrambled backwards trying to avoid 2 guys trying to sack him, and he launched the ball 40 yds in to the endzone and one of our guys slipped right past 3 defenders to catch the ball. Touchdown. That made it 26-28. We were down 2 points. We had a choice, go for a 2 point conversion or chance kicking the extra point and going for the point on kickoff. At this point I had missed only one kickoff. So they asked me what we should do, and I told them it was their choice. So I kicked. I nailed my extra point right down the middle. 27-28. All I had to do was make the kickoff. I set up my ball and was nice and relaxed, confident in my ability to make this kick. It is a 58 yd kick trying for a 10 ft gap, but I was 3-4 for that day. I just take my field goal steps cause distance isn't a problem at that spot, plus I'm kicking off of an elevated tee. I kicked the ball square on and it was heading right down the middle, but it started to hook at the end and missed by 1 foot. Just barely outside the pole. Ah man, that was close. Well the other team got the ball and tried 2 plays, the first a run, and the second a pass. On the last play, the quarterback threw the ball right at his man and it went through the receivers hands and right into our guys hands. Interception. There was 4 seconds left, we are down 27-28. They send me out to attempt a 50 yd field goal. The first game winning field goal I have ever had to attempt. You know I was calm, not nervous. I realized after my Utah career was over that life always goes on after footbal, regardless of the outcome. This was something I never understood while playing college football. Football was my life, my happiness, my sadness. Well this day I told myself not to think twice about it. Brittney was in the stands, and she would love me regardless. My family was still alive and doing well and that is worth more than any football game. So these thoughts helped me in my preparation for the field goal. I lined up, took a deep breath, looked at the field goal poles, and glanced at my holder and told him, "Ready". I wait for movement from the snap and the line to give me the go ahead to approach. I immediately saw that the snap was rolled in stead of thrown, and the holder/quarterback just fell on the ball. So, my first and only opportunity, became the opposite, a lack of an opportunity. Oh well. The coaches on the other team are the coaches of the new Utah Saints Professional Indoor team that will be playing at the Oval. It was a good outing and they asked me if I would come out, and I told them to give me a couple weeks to fully heal, and I would come out and compete with any kicker they currently have. I'm excited to play again. I miss the football camaraderie.

A little frustrated

So I just got back from my set of Monday night Indoor soccer games, and I obviously am bugged and would not be able to go to sleep. I am 28 yrs old and I still have the competitive bug in me. I still consider myself to be in good shape. Good enough shape to compete at a very high level. I wouldn't mind trying out for the Utah mens state select team. I've even thrown around the idea of taking a few classes at SLCC and playing soccer with them.

It all comes down to this. I enjoy playing sports with unselfish players. People who have skill, or little skill, it doesn't matter. Its those who would rather run harder, or make an extra pass, or give up their body for the team, or another player. I have always said I would take a team full of hustlers who aren't as skilled, than play on a team full of skilled ball hogs. Unfortunately I get a little frustrated sometimes. I play on a few teams and its funny how the team that I have the most hustle when it comes to my teammates is the team with the fewest soccer players. Those guys run their guts off, and they aren't even in soccer shape. It just frustrates me to the umpteenth degree playing with selfish players. In basketball, football, soccer, any team sport I can't stand it.

I personally would take on the whole team dribbling a soccer ball just to give it another guy for the goal if that were how the game would be played. I play with a couple of guys who get on me for being to unselfish. They want me to be more aggressive and create for the team. I guess I just hope that others see how easy sports are when you play as a team and help create opportunity's in the game by being unselfish. Here is a simple question. Doesn't a basketball or football or soccer ball move faster when it is passed. Isn't it easier to get from one end to the other by passing. Then why is it that every damn team I play on consist of someone who wants to just run with it or dribble it the whole length when our team is standing there, visibly open waiting for a pass, and yet...run, run, run, dribble, dribble, dribble.....I seriously get so irked by this...I know how much my teammates see my frustration and don't understand it. Well, I guess I do take it serious. I'm still in good shape. Why should I have to concede that. Should I get out of shape so I can just take it easy. I don't want that. I wouldn't want that. I plan on being in competitive shape for a long time.

A couple new things

So I haven't had anybody I know let me know that they have read my blog. I'm kind of torn on this. On one hand I haven't told anyone about it other than Brittney. I have posted a link on my Myspace blog about it, but I have to admit that I'm curious who has read it. Supposedly 86 people by this current post have checked out the blog. Now I have it set where my home PC will not be counted which eliminates my wife or me checking it. I know it shows up when I google my name, but seriously how many people actually do that. But I haven't really gotten too in depth with this blog, cause it is new to me and I'm getting used to it. I haven't received any feedback or comments, which I don't know if that means its boring or just people haven't taken the time to do it or not. But nevertheless I'm still gonna post. I actually enjoy it, even though it doesn't fit in my personality characteristics. I'm very unorganized, but want to be. I normally wear my feelings on my sleeve, thus what to blog about? But there are still things which I have to say that I don't really talk to anyone about. But I wouldn't mind a question, or subject that one of the readers is curious how I feel about it. Huh?

So enough about that.....So....last Wednesday I was asked by my friend Blake Carling to cover for some players who couldn't make a rec basketball league. Well I said 'yes' and it sure was an interesting night. Well I got my bell rang, saw stars, got beat up, was blind-sided, whatever you wanna call it. Blake was head butted by an opposing player pretty hard, so he punched the kid. Well a scuffle took place and their whole team started kicking and punching him while he was on the ground. So I ran over there and started throwing people off of him. Well they all started after me. I don't even think I threw a punch. I didn't even get mad. In fact, the second thought I had right after the one about helping Blake was I can't hurt anybody. I could lose my real estate license if I get in trouble. That didn't work out so well in my favor. Trust me, I could have really hurt someone while they were all distracted with Blake. How easily could it have been for me to choose my target and kick someone in the ribs, or the back of the knees, or even elbow someone in the face or side of the head. Seriously I could have hurt someone pretty badly if I'd have been in a different situation. Well.....I didn't. As I was walking backwards, more like skipping backwards, trying to see who was gonna throw the punch at me, thats all I remember....One of them hit me from the side or the back, and down I went. I know I did not see a punch coming. That would have been easy to remember. The interesting part about it, is I can't figure out where I got hit. I was definitely bleeding a lot out of my nose, and it is still sore and bruised. My jaw was sore, and I couldn't close my teeth together, and I had a stubbed thumb. I highly doubt I was punched in the nose, cause it would have broke. Its not broken, just sore. Plus I'm not gonna get knocked out from my nose. But I think I was hit from the side right on the jaw below my ear. I've been hit before. In fact I've split my chin open from a train-like collision with another soccer player where he went flying and all I got was a gash to the bone on my chin. That didn't even phase me. In fact I remember it just got me mad, very mad. I didn't even know I was bleeding. So I got hit by a lucky punch from some guys who apparently couldn't fight mano-e-mano. Oh well. I've been on the opposite side of this, or at least seen it. I've never just beat anyone up like that, but I've seen others do it who I went to school with. I've heard it repeated, "friends don't let friends fight alone". Well these guys must have been friends.

What I expect from 2008

Well I am currently 28, heading right into 29 years old, but I have to be honest when I say I'm not ready for kids yet. I love kids so much. They brighten my day when I get to play with them or just be goofy and silly with them. But I'm not quite ready in my marriage or life to be a daddy. I was looking through one of my scrapbooks that my awesome mother has worked so hard on, and I have so many great memories of my lil brothers growing up. I remember how much I loved them, and how happy I felt when they would look up to me or let me hold them and put them to sleep. That was so gratifying to me, and I know it will be even more special with my own kids, but there is just something that tells me its not time. I have the rest of my life to raise kids, I don't need to be in the typical Utah rush. I am excited at the thought of making my parents grandparents, and my brothers uncles, but they can be patient right along with me.

Last year I was so bummed to tear my adductor groin muscle cause I had every intention of getting fit to try out for the Utah State Select Mens soccer team. I know that the only thing that would keep me from making the team would be my fitness. Soccer players don't weigh over 200 pds let alone 205 pds. If I were to try out I would try to get around 190, 185 which I would be absolutely shredded at that weight but I would have to be to increase my fitness stamina and speed. I still have not fully recovered from my injury or I would tryout this year. So I hate to say that I don't know if I will get that opportunity again. I played at the highest level of soccer you can in this state in high school. Traveling to all of the surrounding states, playing their top club teams, but then played college football instead of soccer.

Another possibility is there is going to be another professional indoor football team starting up this spring called the Utah Saints. They will be similar to the Utah Warriors who played at the E center. I played one game for them, but was not retained as the kicker for the regular season. I had one of the best tryouts anyone could have with the Blaze but they did not pick anyone from that tryout. I would like to see how I fair with this new team if they ask me to come play. I know the owner, and all of the coaches pretty well. They have asked me play in some out of state tourneys with them before. I'm not quite sure how I will kick though, with the groin. I'm gonna test in out in the indoor league at the Oval next week. That will give me a better prospective on whether or I could play or not. We'll see. If not I'm gonna most likely continue playing my regular indoor soccer, outdoor soccer in the men's league, and on the Semi-pro football team the Utah Wolverines.

I'm excited to wakeboard this spring and summer. I felt a lot more comfortable last year, my 2nd year doing it. I want to try a lot more things this year if possible. I like messing around with different jumps, slides, turns, etc. My good friends, Brandon and Jesse both have some nice Wake boats and always invite us to come with them. We always appreciate them both and enjoy their company. Good times lay ahead.

I know the housing market has slowed down in the whole country and we have seen some of the effects of it here in Utah as well. Yeah things have slowed down, its also been winter and every winter is slow for me. I always have my phone ringing though, when the sun comes out so I really am not that worried. I'm just lucky to be in the situation I'm in. I don't live a crazy spending lifestyle, we don't have debt except the cars and the house, and my awesome wife loves her job. Not only do we get to fly for basically nothing, but she can contribute to our health benefits, retirement, and her additional income is definitely a bonus. I am always so proud of her. She enjoys being a contributor, and she shows me every day why I need to work that much harder to give her the things she wants.

Vacations we would like to do this year-Realistically

1. Cancun
2. Lake Powell-friends trip
   
3. Denver-sister in law Amber, buddy Mike live there
   
4. Phoenix-father in law lives there
   
5. Orlando-Universal studios in October is amazing, and Disney World

Vacations hopefully-

• Hawaii-to see my cousin Macy and Brittney's friend Finau
• New York, DC-to spend some good history lesson time, & possibly a Baltimore Ravens game
• Mount Rushmore road trip-I've heard that the road there is full of awesome sights

I'm excited for 2008 and I hope you are. Good luck.

2007-What I've learned from it

I would have to say the theme of 2007 was in some ways, a truly learning year. With the cyclone of incidents within my very large circle of friends, it all comes down to very simple concepts. When dealing with friends and family, it is easy to become too involved and eventually too frustrated to exit without making the situation worse. One statement that I can say which I hold on to, especially with all of the drama, mistakes, deceptions, and lies, is that "In order to be forgiven, you must be able to forgive". The only perfect person to ever walk this earth, was crucified while remaining perfect. Yet it is beyond the capacity of some of us to acknowledge our imperfections, while others dwell on them with drowning insecurities.

I personally try to acknowledge my imperfections and work on them with patience. I know that I'm not a perfect man. I know my abilities and certain qualities, but my vices or blemishes sometimes go without notice and so it takes someone to call me out on them or bring them to my attention for me to realize they are there. Now I understand that knowing my own imperfections just doesn't simply make them go away, but gives me a certain perspective in particular situations in my life where I might hurt someones feelings, or make another conscious of an insecurity. Now I try to do my best with handling these daily life dealings, but like I said earlier it takes patience with myself to fully grasp the imperfection.

I have learned with my close ones not too expect too much from anyone. It ultimately ends up in me getting let down or caught with my guard down. Now don't get me wrong, I still have expectations of others, just not to the extent where it could hurt me in the long run. It is sad but true, as the days of our lives pass us each day, we grow older and closer to being wrinkly, elder men and women. I personally feel that the one person that should be held more accountable and to a higher expectation is your spouse or significant other.

In my relatively young and still fresh life, I have seen good friends come and go. And I am a very social, and outgoing individual who in general loves all types of people. But unfortunately as time goes by, our human nature seems to reveal itself a little more. Survival of the Fittest. We tend to choose whats best for ourselves and not necessarily for others. Now the interesting thing is that it is not always a conscious thing that we do, but rather a slow process. Kind of like a plant amongst other living organisms, but has its sunlight slowly taken from it, but not deliberately. Other trees and shrubs grow larger and fuller and tend to nurture there own fruits and limbs, with the other plant left to find a way to survive.

Now I'm sure I sound super-pessimistic with this whole blog, but its quite the contrary. Because I feel this way, I try to cherish my current time with my surrounding loved ones. Take as much of them in as I can. I would simply hope that I'm being a realist when I say in the end it will be me and my wife, and I'm fine with that. In fact that is what I would like. I love my friends, I love my family, I love so many people I have not even me yet. But just know that I do appreciate every day and memory that is made with you, and I would hope that the feeling is reciprocated.